Reviews

I've fallen behind on reviewing the books that I've read recently so here is me trying to catch up.

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White Noise

by Don DeLillo

This was a satire about modern life in America. The main characters are Jack Gladney and his fourth wife, Babette. Jack is a teacher of Hitler studies at a liberal arts college in mid-America. They have four children who are deeply into all aspects of brand-name consumerism. Their lives are engulfed by the white noise of television, microwaves, radio transmissions, and sirens, the music of life in the city. None of the characters are particularly lovable or even likable which made it difficult to "connect" with any of them and I think that was probably deliberate. 

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

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Swan Song

by Elin Hilderbrand

This is the fourth and final entry in Hilderbrand's "Nantucket" novels. Chief of Police Ed Kapenash, after serving for thirty-five years in that capacity, is ready to retire, but when a summer home worth millions of dollars burns to the ground and the owners' personal assistant cannot be found, Ed's retirement plans have to be put on hold. The chief's daughter is best friends with the missing girl. He feels obligated to solve the mystery of the fire and find the missing girl before he can move on to the next phase of his life.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars 

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White Corridor

by Christopher Fowler

This is the fifth in the Peculiar Crimes Unit series featuring detectives Arthur Bryant and John May. In this instance, Bryant and May must solve the murder of one of their own. A member of the PCU was killed inside a locked autopsy room whose only other occupants were dead. Moreover, only four members of the unit have keys to the room. Meanwhile, Bryant and May are stuck in a van miles away in the Dartmoor countryside as a freak snowstorm rages. They had been on their way to a convention of psychics. It will take all of their skill to solve the murder remotely.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

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Trace Elements

by Donna Leon

When a man who was responsible for working in the field collecting samples of Venice's water supply dies in a mysterious motorcycle accident, Commissario Guido Brunetti and his colleague Claudia Griffoni investigate. Once again they are supported by the remarkable research skills of Vice Questore Patta's secretary, Signora Elletra Zorzi. With her help, they are able to piece together the tangled threads that lead them to the discovery that the health of the entire region is endangered by "trace elements" in the water and that discovery may very well have been the reason for the motorcycle "accident."

My rating: 2 of 5 stars